Alibaba Group Holding’s in-house research academy has identified artificial intelligence (AI) in scientific research and photonic chips for data centres as top tech trends to watch for. In a top 10 list of tech predictions for 2022 and beyond, the DAMO Academy also identified AI applications in renewable energy, robots with “enhanced perceptibility” in pressure, vision and sound, and extended reality (XR) networks as fields of science with great prospects. “The advancements in digitalisation … and intelligence are redefining a new digital world featuring mixed reality, technological inclusiveness and low-carbon footprint,” Alibaba DAMO Academy head Jeff Zhang said in the report. The top 10 list was based on a review of 7.7 million scientific papers published over the last three years, an analysis of 85,000 patents and interviews with around 100 scientists, according to DAMO. AI entering a ‘golden age’ in mainland China, according to tech company Baidu The fields identified in the Alibaba report echo areas of science that Beijing is trying to gain leadership in, including AI, big data and high-performance computing. Of the top 10 fields named by Alibaba, at least four are closely related to AI, in which China is already a “full-spectrum peer competitor” to the US, laying the intellectual groundwork for a generational advantage in AI, according to a recent study by the Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. According to DAMO – short for Discovery, Adventure, Momentum and Outlook – AI has the potential to revolutionise science research because machine learning can process massive amounts of data and solve complex problems. It expects AI to be broadly applied in the research phase of applied science, and to be used as a production tool in some areas of basic science over the next three years. In semiconductors, the Chinese government has identified “next-generation materials” as an area where the country could take the lead by developing new and disruptive technologies. China lags the world in advanced chip making technology by about a decade, according to industry experts. Silicon photonic chips, which use photons instead of electrons to transmit data, are likely to be in widespread use by large data centres within three years, DAMO said. Demand for silicon photonic chips, which are faster and use less energy than chips using electrons, will be driven by cloud computing and AI, the report said. XR, one of the fundamental technologies required for the metaverse, was listed as another top trend. China’s Big Tech companies are keen to tap into the concept with investments in AR, VR glasses and newly-registered metaverse trademarks. “XR glasses will become an important interface to the next-generation internet,” DAMO said. The trend will revolutionise the way people interact with technology in scenarios such as entertainment, social networking, the workplace, shopping, education and health care, it added. The trends identified by DAMO are not investment guidelines for Alibaba, which is the parent company of the South China Morning Post .